Crowdsourcing game Photocity aids in development of awesome 3D photo tech

A group of researchers in the US have developed a process that can create a 3D representation of an object using a group of regular photographs.

The system, developed by computer scientists from the University of Washington and Cornell University, can take a collection of 2D photographs and find certain cues on each one to determine the angle from which it was taken. Using this information, the system can construct a 3D model of the object in the pictures.

Because of the way in which the technology works, more images of a certain object allow for a better representation, so the researchers are trying to get as many images of an object as possible. To do this they have incorporated their system into a social video game.

The game, called Photocity, works in a similar fashion to a Capture the Flag game. A user creates an account at the web page and gets assigned to a team represented by a color. The web page has a map with several real life locations and buildings that represent the playing field. The objective of the game is to get pictures from specific locations on the map represented by a flag. Every time a user submits a photo from a location marked by one of the flags, his team gets points. When a team has enough pictures from that location, the flag changes to their color and they have captured that location.

At the moment the game has only a few locations centered around universities but anyone can start a new location by uploading photos of that place. In fact, there is a location for the Red Square in Moscow.

This is a great way to involve the community into one of these projects. With this approach thousands of people can contribute while having a good time. The final product is something everybody can benefit from and it should be fun to participate and help your team.

Read [The New York Times] Site [Photocity Game]

Image credit: Photocity Game